Chicago style hot dog

Tasty Tuesday–Steve’s Hot Dogs

When Chickadee and I went to visit the Planter’s Nutmobile in July, we had to stop in at Steve’s Hot Dogs, the host of the event.

I loved the interior of the restaurant…especially all the Star Wars memorabilia everywhere!

Now on to the most important stuff…the food! Since it was just me and Chickadee, I didn’t go crazy and order the hot dog flight, but if you do, you can try their eight top dogs. I’m personally kind of a hot dog purist, so I only tried one thing..the classic Chicago Dog. It was probably the best Chicago Dog I’ve ever had! The toppings are impossible to screw up (as long as you don’t try to sneak some ketchup on there), so they were spot on, but the hog dog itself was excellent. I don’t know why or what makes it different, but it was really, really good!

It’s hard to argue with this sentiment:

I liked the Chicago Dog so much, I may even go back and try something different in the future…the Al Hrabratsky appeals to me based on the name alone, but it also has sauerkraut and paprika, so I know it has to be good! You can also build your own dog or brat, so you know you’re getting exactly what you want, and that means Steve’s basically has endless options!

Tasty Tuesday–Chicago-Style Hot Dogs

If you’ve never had a Chicago-style hot dog, you’re really missing out!

What makes a Chicago dog so special? It’s an all-beef hot dog topped with mustard, white onions, a pickle spear, sliced tomatoes, sport peppers, neon relish, and celery salt (in other words, you “drag it through the garden”), and served on a poppy seed bun (which are hard to find around here, so I had to settle for plain old hot dog buns this time). The most important step? Never, ever put ketchup on your hot dog! I’m not a huge fan of regular hot dogs, but there’s something really fantastic about the flavors of the Chicago dog…I’m very thankful I can usually find most of the ingredients locally!

Hot Dog

On National Hot Dog Day, it seems appropriate to share some photos of this “K-9s for Cops” dog we say in Chicago in May. He’s not the first of the public art display we’ve run across, but he was our favorite, because he sits outside a Chicago-style hot dog stand and is covered in hot dog art. Please note: There is no ketchup here, as it should be!

Tasty Tuesday–Chicago’s Best Foods

Of course, one of the best things about visiting any city is finding out what foods that location is famous for and trying them for yourself. Chicago is no exception, and foods that I grew up with as just food are now special treats when we travel. I’m sure people could argue all day about constitutes a Chicago food, but here are my favorites…Chicago-style pizza, Chicago-style hot dogs, Rainbow cones, gyros, Eli’s cheesecake, and Italian beef:

Ryan thinks I should have added the Italian combo to my list, but I really don’t like Italian sausage that much, so the best I can do is mention it. Also, not pictured, but extremely delicious and addictive…Chicago-style popcorn. I could eat that stuff by the (cheesy Christmas) tinful!